It’s been less than two months since Jon Stewart and his iteration of The Daily Show went off the air, but it’s clear that he’s already greatly missed. Stewart and his staff picked up an Emmy Award for Best Variety Talk Series at Sunday’s ceremony — a fitting sendoff to a show that’s been a staple of television for nearly twenty years. Of course, Stewart’s speech at the Emmys on behalf of the writers was so The Daily Show — nuanced, self-deprecating, smart, and, of course funny. According to Stewart, it seems as though his life post-Daily Show is a bit harder than we’d think.
As his staff made his way up to the stage, Stewart said, “Without the music, it really feels very judgmental. Everybody staring going 'It's been 10 seconds, entertain us.’” Is that how Stewart felt at the helm of The Daily Show for almost two decades? If he did, it certainly never showed. Stewart always kept his cool, even as his hair was getting grayer and grayer. He continued:
To everybody on television, I just want to tell you, cling to it as long as you can. Like death… I have been off of television for six weeks, seven weeks, whatever it is. This is the first applause I have heard. It is a barren wasteland out there. Did you know, you have craft services? Out in the world, there are tables with food, but you can't take it. It costs money, [and] very little of it is gluten-free or vegan.
Oh, the humanity! I truly understand Stewart’s struggle. How difficult it must be for him to sustain the lifestyle he’s used to now that his show is over. Stewart is a boat without a rudder, an engine without gas.
Seriously, though, Stewart will sorely be missed as one of the lone beacons of truth and tell-it-like-it-is on television, and all of the awards that The Daily Show is getting tonight are the least that the television industry can do to thank him for the decades of work he and his writers have done.
Oh, and I sincerely hope he was lying when he finished his speech by saying, "Thank you so very much. You will never have to see me again.”
